If Justin Langer was expecting an unbreakable band of brothers from the five-strong Queensland contingent in his Test squad, the new Australia coach will urgently need to reconsider.

Within the dressing room of the JLT Sheffield Shield champions, cricket.com.au can reveal the emergence of a worrying divide. On one side are Test newcomers Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser and Marnus Labuschagne. On the other, top-order pair Matthew Renshaw and Usman Khawaja.

"There's a term we use for a few of them – 'Queen Street Cowboy'," Renshaw laughs. "They like to think they're country."

Khawaja clarifies: "They're fake country bumpkins – a lot of them grew up in the city and pretend they're from the country."

Then there's this from Neser: "The city slickers? They don't like the outdoors much. I know Uzzie hates camping and would prefer the luxury of his mansion there in the south side."

Welcome to the Bulls' simmering city-v-country debate – the biggest controversy in Queensland sport since Greg Inglis brushed the Broncos.

"We all drive Utes and we all have dogs, that's literally like every Queenslander," grins Labuschagne, who moved to Australia from South Africa as a 10-year-old and whose Redlands upbringing Renshaw describes as being "a long way from country".

We've taken a closer look at these five Queenslanders through the lens of this rivalry, and the apparent countrification of Queensland Cricket.

THE QUEEN STREET COWBOYS

Marnus Labuschagne


The common adjective used by his teammates is "annoying", and it appears this is a reputation earned through the application of the same traits appreciated by Langer – namely energy and commitment by the bucket load.

"Marnus is a cricket nuffie," says Bulls blaster Chris Lynn. "If there's a bloke that trains the hardest, it's definitely him, even though he can get ... he's very annoying at times. All the time."

Renshaw insists Marnus is faux country, with his only attachment to the land stemming from a childhood in South Africa and a questionable claim of loving country music.

"He loves cricket, gets a bit excited sometimes and gets a lot of nervous energy," adds Renshaw. "If he's not batting, or waiting to bat, he will be picking up people’s bats, having lots of theories about different bats and he will try and tell you which bats are the best."

Labuschagne wins some support from a fellow Queen Street Cowboy in Neser – though he can't help but steer back into 'a-word' territory.

"Marnus is a great guy, and he's one of the all-time competitors – an annoying competitor though," he explains. "I know when I played him in club cricket years back before he was in the squad, I used to hate playing him because he was just this little chirpy little kid, just pissed you off on the field.

"Now to see him pissing other cricketers off on the field, it's quite satisfying knowing that I wasn’t the only one getting annoyed with him.

"But he's a great bloke to have on your team and he’ll do anything for you."

Brendan Doggett

Doggett wins some points from Yorkshire-born Renshaw for being "from the outback" – he was born in Rockhampton and raised in Toowoomba.

As with Labuschagne and Neser, he owns a Ute and a dog, and Neser sums him up thus: "He bowls fast, swings them and is just a great bloke."

Renshaw reckons the speedster is "scary" in the nets and finds support in that theory with Lynn, who labels him "an absolute nightmare" to face.

"He's such an athlete," Lynn adds. "So his fifth spell is just as quick as his first."

Doggett, just 24 and of Indigenous descent, is also described by his Bulls colleagues as "simple" (Neser) and "hard as nails" (Labuschagne), and the man himself embraces the country reputation. Although he does stop short of pig shooting, which brings us to …

Michael Neser

The senior member of the Queen Street Cowboys, Neser's country roots also come from South Africa, from where he moved as a 10-year-old to that historic country town known as the Gold Coast.

Neser has three dogs (Labuschagne claims it's actually eight), a Ute, and is regularly drawing the ire of his partner by going 'piggin' out bush with former state teammate Nathan Reardon, and ex-Bulls player Joe Dawes.

"It's just a way to get out and be men for a while," the fast bowler reasons. "The missus doesn't like it but when I get the chance to go out west I love it."

Lynn has played with Neser at junior level as well and finds plenty to like about the 28-year-old, who is known around cricket circles as one of the game's nice guys and has so far taken national selection in his stride.

"Growing up with Nes, he's so relaxed, and he's such a fun guy to be around," he says. "His will to win is very high but he doesn't take (cricket) too seriously so he has great fun doing it."

Labuschagne reveals another source to the city-v-country angst is a love of country music, headed up by Neser and Doggett. Which is a nice segue into …

THE CITY SLICKERS

Usman Khawaja


Born in Pakistan and raised in Sydney, Khawaja is a proud "city slicker" and happily admits to preferring the finer things in life. For example: Hotel or camping? "A hotel, hands down – I hate camping."

The opening batsman despises creepy crawlies (he once made Mitch Swepson check his tent for spiders on a pre-season camp) and while he does own a dog, LeBron, he is much more likely to be caught discussing fashion than farming.

But it's the country music from his "fake country bumpkin" teammates that really pushes his buttons, and has taken this divide to a whole new level.

"Look, I come into the gym and the amount of times I've been hearing, I don't know, Slim Dusty-sounding country music," Khawaja offers.

"I'm like, 'God, how are we supposed to get up for the gym with this?' And all the boys are loving it."

Matthew Renshaw

As happens at the top of the order, Khawaja finds solidarity in Renshaw who, while conceding his skipper is the slicker of the two, happily shuns the bucolic life for the ways of the inner-city dweller.

"If I've got a choice of a golf course or the bush I'll generally go to the golf course," he says, adding that he finds camping to be approaching Labuschagne levels of annoying.

"You've got a nice bed and nice shower at home," he explains. "Why would you go out to the bush?"

And that right there sums up the great divide of this Queensland quintet. Will it fester in the UAE and tear the Australian camp apart from the inside? Only time will tell.